Rising_3

It still smelled like rain. The flowers in Mrs. Thelma's yard looked strong and were bursting with color. Even grouchy ol' Mr. Thatchet's lawn was super green. I rounded the corner just short of Ben's place and saw him leaving and going the other direction. "Ben!" He didn't hear me. I geared up on my board and sped towards him.
"Hey Ben. Wait up!"
"Aidan, what are you doing here?"
"Coming to see you, of course! The sun is shining and you know the guys have got to be heading towards the field by now. Where are you going?"
"Ah Aidan, I start working for Ms. Shelley today. You knew that."
"Ah, shoot. I forgot. I just saw the sun and was so excited..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm only working for 4 hours and I can catch up with you after that."
"Alright, you know where I'll be at"
"You know it!"
Ben took off towards Maverick's. Ms. Shelley was the owner of the place and it was pretty much the only ma and pop place left to eat in town. You could get a killer plate of french toast and they always had late night steak and eggs for next to nothing (a favorite with the local college kids). Ben had gone about finding himself a job because he knew he wasn't going to see any money from his parents. They weren't doing to hot. His Mom was in and out of rehab and his Dad was cool but he had a dead end job at the mine. I asked Ben what he was wanting to do with the money but it was always something different. When it came down to it, he was just trying not to end up like his parents. I felt for the guy. I was really blessed with a good family and the more I looked around the more I realized how rare it is to be in my situation. I don't know why God allowed for such things but I was thankful. It's a bummer when it takes seeing someone else in a worse situation to make you thankful...I hope I'm learning something here...Lost in my thoughts I found my way to The Spot. Sure enough, the gang was already at it. I went into the clubhouse and grabbed my glove and ran out to the field.
"Aidan! Want left-center?" Gavin shouted
I pounded my fist in my glove. "You know it!"
I ran out and found my position, crouched down with my toes dug into the grass. I found myself rocking back and forth with excitement. "Eh batter, eh batter!" we chanted.
Ah. Summer is here.